In the year 304, in Abitene, a small village in present-day Tunisia, forty-nine Christians were seized by the authorities one Sunday, while celebrating the Eucharist. Such gatherings had been forbidden by imperial decree. They were taken to Carthage to be interrogated by the Proconsul Anulinus. Asked by him why they had disobeyed the Emperor's severe orders, one of the Christians, a certain Emeritus, replied: 'Sine dominico non possumus' - we cannot live without joining together on Sunday to celebrate the Eucharist.
What can be done with ease by us in Cambridge - go to Sunday Mass - was something for which earlier Christians were willing to die. But what unites all Catholics is our need to go to Mass. It is because of this need that we describe it as an obligation.
There are at least four reasons why we need Sunday Mass. First, it is the privileged place to hear the Word of God. The first half of Mass is devoted to the Liturgy of the Word during which we hear both the Scriptures and an exploration of them in the homily, which, hopefully, nurtures our faith and helps us to live it.
The second is to participate in the greatest prayer we have: the sacrifice of the Mass. The celebration of Mass is not solely the work of the priest. In our own way, we all, as baptised men and women, actively participate. This is why the celebrant says to us, 'Pray, brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.' Though the priest, by the Sacrament of Holy Orders, has the singular and irreplaceable role of acting in the person of Christ, at every Mass we can each offer up our own prayers and sacrifices, uniting them with those of Christ's (cf. Lumen Gentium, 10).
Another reason we need to go to Sunday Mass is because it is where we receive what Jesus desires to give us: himself. Jesus said to his fellow Jews, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you' (John 6.53). Having become flesh to save us, the Son of God continues to be present to us in a number of ways but by means of the Eucharist he is 'really' present: body and blood, soul and divinity. Holy Communion is our emergency ration. It is the food which keeps us going.
A final reason we must gather for Sunday Mass is for the sake of each other. The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews exhorts his listeners to 'not [neglect] to meet together, as the habit of some, but encouraging one another' (10.25a). We need each other to be encouraged and strengthened. Every missing fellow Catholic diminishes us. We are not meant to and we cannot live our faith on our own.
St Augustine was always concerned about the unity of the Church. This unity is diminished when we stay away from Mass. Therefore, he once preached: ''Now you are the body of Christ, and individually members of it’ (1 Cor 12:27). If that is so, it is the sacrament of yourselves that you receive… You hear the words, ‘the body of Christ’ and you reply ‘Amen’. Be then a member of Christ’s body, so that your ‘Amen’ may accord with the truth… Be then what you see, and receive what you are' (Sermon 272).
'Sine dominico non possumus,' said Emeritus. He was witnessing no less to us than to the Proconsul. Perhaps we would not have his courage. However, may our love for the gift of Sunday Mass - where we hear the Word of God, join our prayers to Christ's, receive him, and support each other - grow even more and be our weekly comfort.
